The Marketing Tunnel vs. The Consumer Decision Journey. What’s next?
Through my studies at the University of Montana I have discovered the high demand for innovative marketing that appears to be forever changing. Through this change many businesses are referring to two models — the marketing tunnel and the consumer decision journey. I would like to dive into both models, how they are adapting to the digital world, the positives and negatives of both, if they will be relevant in coming years, and what I suggest as the marketing world continues to progress into an age where customer experiences and relations are prevalent.
Marketing has evolved greatly over the years. Most traditional marketing strategies fall under one of four categories: print, broadcast, direct mail, and telephone. Businesses would rely heavily on one or all of these categories to communicate with its target audience. While these conventional marketing techniques are still being used, mainly because they still work effectively, marketing has become much more advanced.
To help explain the advancement of marketing I would like to reference the marketing funnel. The marketing funnel is a visualization that breaks down the process of turning leads into customers. The fundamental idea of the funnel is that marketers cast a broad net to capture as many leads as possible and then slowly nurture prospective customers through the purchasing decision, narrowing down these candidates in each stage of the funnel. While businesses hope to turn every lead into customers, which is unrealistic, it’s the marketer’s job to turn as many leads into customers as possible.
https://trackmaven.com/blog/marketing-funnel-2/
Traditional marketing or old school marketing puts seeking at the wider part of the funnel. The first priority was to find as many consumers as possible, convert some of them into customers and establish a relationship with a few of those customers with hopes to earn their loyalty. Author Joseph Jaffe, in his book, “Flip the Funnel” highlights a basic principle of new school marketing — there is high value in cultivating a loyal customer base and keeping it engaged with continued communications.
New school marketing now occupies the narrower part of the funnel, not because finding customers is less important than it was, but because loyal customers now fill part of the role. Old school marketers considered the deal complete once consumers made the decision to buy. New school marketers devote significant resources into maintaining relationships with those loyal customers. In doing so the customer provides the company with a lifetime value and provides free marketing through word-of-mouth via reviews, social media, and face-to-face. It’s this reason marketers must provide consumers with the best possible experience so the company can achieve retention among current customers and attract new ones.
The marketing funnel has progressed to suffice the advancements in modern day marketing strategies and tactics, however we can now argue that the marketing funnel is no longer relevant because the buying process isn’t exactly linear. The marketing funnel is designed for leads to start at the beginning of the funnel and finish at the end. Now days, leads are entering the funnel at different stages. Sometimes this happens because influencers, friends, etc. refer them and they already know they want to buy a brand’s product, so they enter at the intent stage. This also can happen when leads have already pursued their own education through search, and in doing so, they enter the funnel at the interest or consideration stage.
Technological advancements, in specific, the rise of the Internet and social sharing has increased access to information. Customers are now doing their own research and relying on digital content to inform them about products. Customers are navigating more and more of the funnel on their own before encountering a sales rep., which makes the marketing funnel impractical.
Due to the disconnect between the marketing funnel and todays non-linear buying process marketers have adapted by “flipping the funnel” and making it the customer experience funnel. This funnel outlines the process of turning customers into advocates, which in turn refuels the top of the marketing funnel by driving awareness and lead generation.
https://trackmaven.com/blog/marketing-funnel-2/
The customer experience funnel was implemented to ultimately increase numbers and size of purchases and to drive more awareness and referrals to fuel the marketing funnel. This is an attempt to save the marketing funnel so it is still relevant in today’s digital age.
Since there is skepticism surrounding the marketing funnel and whether or not it suits todays marketing economy, researchers have tested and created entirely new models that provide answers to the questions raised from the marketing funnel. One alternative is McKinsey’s consumer decision journey, which employs a circular model to show how the buying process fuels itself and to highlight pivots or touch points. Consumers are moving outside of the marketing funnel by changing the way they research and buy products. The consumer decision journey is the answer to this change.
Marketing has one overall goal and that is to reach consumers at the moments that most influence their decisions. The consumer decision journey applies touch points for these different opportunities to influence consumers. Touch points have always been understood through the marketing funnel — customers start with a number of potential brands in mind (the wide end of the funnel), marketing is then directed at them as they methodically reduce that number and move through the funnel, and at the end they emerge with the one brand they choose to purchase from.
The marketing funnel fails to capture all the touch points and key buying factors resulting from the eruption of product choices and digital channels, due to the emergence of well-informed customers. The consumer decision journey provides a more sophisticated approach to help navigate this environment, which is more circular than the linear approach of the marketing funnel. Since marketing has become more advanced and complicated the consumer decision journey tailors to any geographic market that has different kinds of media, Internet access, and wide product choice.
The proliferation of media and products requires marketers to find new, innovative ways to get their brands included in the initial-consideration set that consumers develop as they begin their decision journey. The Internet provides consumers with unlimited access to everything they want to know; therefore consumers are shifting away from one-way communication, from marketers to consumers, to a two-way communication model. The consumer decision model allows for a more systematic way to satisfy customer demands and manage word-of-mouth through upgraded loyalty programs and better-managed customer experience.
The decision making process for consumers is evolving to a more circular journey, with four primary phases representing potential “battlegrounds” where marketers can win or lose: initial consideration, active evaluation or the process of researching potential purchases, closure — when consumers buy a specific brand; and post purchase — when consumers experience them.
The marketing funnel is still a great representation because it provides a way to understand the strength of a brand compared with its competitors at different stages, highlighting reasons that stall adoption, and making it possible to focus on different aspects of the marketing challenge. The consumer decision journey is like the marketing funnel on steroids; therefore providing a more advanced approach to modern day consumer decision-making.
The consumer decision journey contains four steps:
Step one: the consumer considers an initial set of brands based on brand perceptions and exposure to recent touch points.
Step two: the consumer participates in active evaluation where they add or subtract brands as they evaluate what they want.
Step three: involves the moment of purchase where the consumer selects a brand.
Step four: the consumer evaluates his/her post purchase experience, the consumer builds expectations base on experience to inform the next decision journey.
Lastly, if the post purchase experience is positive then the brand has done its job and has potential for the consumer to enter the loyalty loop. The loyalty loop is what marketers strive for so they can create lifetime value from a specific consumer. Once loyalty is achieved it sends the consumer back around the circular model, where they end up back at step three — the moment of purchase. This is a continuous process around the circular model.
As I stated above, the marketing tunnel has its critiques — prospects don’t just enter in the top of the funnel, they come in at any stage, they jump stages, stay in a specific stage indefinitely, or they move back and forth between stages. Well, it wouldn’t be right if the customer decision journey didn’t also have its critiques.
The consumer decision journey can be seen as incomplete. The problem persists when brands put the decision at the center of the journey, but customers don’t. For customers, the pivot is the experience and not the purchase. The customer decision journey may be circular, but if the focus is still on the transaction, it is just a funnel eating its own tail. In specific, the biggest weakness of the consumer decision journey is the connection between purchase and advocacy. Social media has disconnected advocacy from purchase, you no longer have to be a customer to be an advocate. The “social currency” is sharing what’s cool in the moment.
In today’s marketing landscape, people can experience a brand in many ways other than purchase or usage. People experience brands through live events, content marketing, social media, and word-of-mouth. Therefore, in today’s digital world, advocates aren’t necessarily customers because of social influences.
I don’t see this as a weakness for the consumer decision journey, I see it as a constraint that the model should use leverage its model as superior to the marketing funnel. Content marketing is a must for all marketing efforts. Content marketing is a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online materials, such as videos, blogs, and social media posts, that doesn’t explicitly promote a brand, but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services. Personally I see content marketing every time I use social media, it is everywhere and it’s important for marketers to understand its reach.
I will also note that social influences have become abundant among many products. Whether it is reviews of a product from friends or family online — if the influence is positive it can only benefit that particular product. Another strategy marketers are utilizing for greater social influence is payment to popular influencers to publicize themselves using their product. For instance, the Kardashian/Jenner family has a massive following on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook — marketers are paying them to take pictures and provide reviews of their products. When followers see influencers, that they admire, using a certain product it sparks an interest or want for that specific product. However, once the product is purchased and used, if this experience isn’t a good experience the company fails to reach the loyalty loop.
After reviewing market trends, I believe in the next three to five years the mismatch will only widen between customers actual experiences and the models of the marketing funnel and the customer decision journey. Both models are useful and will continue to be helpful in some contexts. When deciding which model to choose, it’s important to make sure it addresses the multi-dimensional nature of social influence, non-linear paths to purchase, the role of advocates who aren’t customers (influencers), and lastly the shift to ongoing relationships beyond individual transactions.
In the following years I believe more funnels will surface. Marketing today requires a new mental map to navigate a changing landscape. I think a model that informs marketers how to enable and empower, not just persuade and promote will surface in the next three to five years. Another idea could be a user experience journey that details the product and the marketing becoming one thing. This model could also be explained as the user experience journey into which opportunities for transactions are thoughtfully embedded.
Like I stated above, I believe both models are useful, but I also think marketers in the coming years shouldn’t get too hung up on each and every step of either model. Both models can be used as guidelines, but I think marketing lies within the product and what it has to offer. What I mean by this is if the product provides great content or benefits for its customer it will sell, if it does not achieve great content then it could kill itself. Yes, great marketing is always necessary, however a great product will sell itself.
Published by: Carsen Hopfauf
About me: I am currently a student at the University of Montana. I will be graduating in the spring of 2017 with a degree in Business Administration — Marketing, a Minor in Communications, and a Certificate in Entertainment Management. I grew up with two siblings and two hardworking parents that I hold very near to me. I am an avid sports fan, especially when it comes to football, soccer and basketball. I am excited to see what the future holds and I believe if you want something you have to go get it, nothing comes easy so get it while its hot. God bless!
